Design & Decor Blog

The flooring installers from End of the Roll just showed up at my door, ready to finish up the job. Yesterday, they installed the new floors throughout the living room and now, just the kitchen and front foyer are left. I really can’t wait to see the whole thing completed. It’s looking amazing already.

Since they’re finished in the living room, my designer Lisa Canning (check out her website at condosbycanning.com) is ready to get the wallpaper up. Our design plan has evolved throughout this process and we’ve agreed that we love Marimekko’s Lumimarja wallpaper from New Wall (pictured above) for the front foyer and on the long back wall of the living room (behind the sofa). Hopefully the wallpaper can go up today - we have to work around the flooring guys! But as you can see, things are really starting to come together.

What are your thoughts on the wallpaper? I just returned home from a vacation that took me to Finland. While in Helsinki, I strolled through the must-visit, typically Finnish design stores like Marimekko and Iittala. I love the playful feeling in their designs and this Marimekko wallpaper is fresh and fun, without being too overwhelming for a small space. What do you think?

After watching the installation process of my new floors yesterday, I found myself mulling over the benefits of the underlay product that was used. The underlay is probably the most ‘unexciting’ part of this whole process, but I realized how important it was and how easy it made the installation. Since I’d never seen hardwood floors installed without glue and nails, I thought I’d ask a bit more about this product because I thought you, readers, might be interested too. So I checked in with Rainer Knickmann from Elastilon, to learn more about how it works.

Natalie Bahadur: What are the benefits of Elastilon over other installation methods?
Rainer Knickmann: The main thing is the ease of using it. It’s very easy to use, very clean and once you’ve learned how to use it, it’s very quick. It’s environmentally friendly because there are no VOCs at all. It uses a very high tech adhesive that is also environmentally friendly. It was invented in Holland and made primarily for the Western European market but it’s grown since to be accepted worldwide.

NB: Why is this preferable to other installation methods?
RK: It’s faster to use simply because you do everything in one step. You unroll the Elastilon; it’s a foam pad that by itself gives cushioning and a lot of sound dampening, something that most condo boards and apartment owners appreciate. In addition to that, it has an adhesive on one side that actually holds the floor. It also has elastic properties so that it expands and contracts with the wood flooring as the climatic conditions change with temperature and humidity. This way, you’ll always have nice tight joints. The material expands with the wood and then contracts again as the wood contracts and pulls it together. Rather than fighting against the nature of the wood, the way conventional installation methods do, this actually works with it.

NB: How do you install it?
RK: It comes in a roll with a film on the adhesive. All you have to do to install your floor is unroll the material with the adhesive side up, place your flooring on it. Once you’ve got it started, you pull the film out from under the flooring as you progress. Because of that, you don’t need all the other equipment you’d normally need. No nails, no compressors, no glue or trowels. You don’t have to spread glue, which often gets all over your hands and all over the space and all over the installer himself! It’s just much cleaner to use.

One of the nice things is if it’s being used in a home, you can do a room or two and not disturb the rest of the family because there’s no smell from the glue. The only mess or dirt comes from the sawdust from cutting wood.

The environmental aspect is a big deal, too. There are no harmful VOCs emitted from this product.

NB: Anything else interesting about Elastilon?
RK: Elastilon is developed to allow you to lay hardwood floors directly onto cement construction. A further advantage of that is that it can be used to install solid wood flooring on a cement surface below grade, for example, a basement floor, provided that the basement is reasonably dry, etc. You do not have to first build a plywood subfloor, which of course is more expensive, time consuming and takes up space and uses more resources. All you need to do is put down 6 mil or thicker plastic film with the Elastilon on top. It definitely saves you time and money when installing a wood floor in the basement.

It can also be used over radiant or in-floor heating, which is becoming ever more popular. The installation requirements are a bit different than a normal installation but as long as those are followed, it works perfectly well to allow you to lay a solid wood floor.

So, we’re about halfway done with the flooring and it’s looking great! The guys from End of the Roll are working hard and have installed about half of the flooring in my condo. As I’ve mentioned before, I chose a bamboo wood in Solid Onyx from Tarkett. I love the colour. It’s so dark, rich and dramatic.

But before they began laying the floors, they needed to install the underlay. My condo board was very clear on the regulations. The underlay needed to have an IIC rating of 62 so I had to be sure to comply with the building code. In determining which underlay to use, I was introduced to Elastilon, a new product that makes the installation of hardwood floors faster, easier and cleaner.

Elastilon has been used in Europe for nearly a decade but is relatively new in North America. Instead of mucking about with nails or staples and glue, Elastilon boasts a simple non-toxic peel-and-stick technology, which bonds directly to the hardwood and creates a permanent seal that will prevent the wood from warping, gapping or buckling in future. Even more beneficial, the Elastilon expands and contracts with the wood in varying levels of humidity, preventing any distortion to the floors.

Its thickness adds comfort underfoot (I can feel the difference already!) and minimizes sound transfer - a big concern when you live in a condo like me. And because it’s so simple to use and doesn’t create a mess, floors can be installed in about half the time usually required.

These guys from End of the Roll are amazing - they’ve worked so quickly and efficiently and things are really starting to come together. Stay tuned for more!

Now we’re getting to the good stuff! Today I’m having the new floors installed in my condo. I have chosen a bamboo hardwood in Solid Onyx (a deep, dark chocolate brown) from Tarkett. They’re being installed by End of the Roll Milton and the process got started today. The guys showed up before 9am and within 20 minutes, they had all the old laminate floors ripped out.

I have to admit, there’s something a little bittersweet about the process. I’m super-excited to have the new floors installed and to see what the final product looks like. But watching the old floors come out, I found myself flooded with memories of when I first bought this condo seven years ago. My father and brother-in-law worked tirelessly one weekend to rip out the awful pink carpet that was there and lay the new laminate for me. They were no experts at the process (neither had done it before) but they did it with love for me and I’ll never forget that. My entire family chipped in and dedicated their weekend to helping turn my first condo into my first home.

But the time has come for a change and it looks like that time is now! The installers are busy working away - I’ll keep you updated on their progress!

Next step in my renovation: Painting the ceiling. I’ll be honest. I wasn’t too concerned about painting the ceiling. It just seemed like one more job to add to the never-ending list of things to do. But my brother-in-law Paul insisted that we just do it. Especially since I’d painted the walls white, you could really see the difference in the ceiling colour - it was dingy compared to the new clean white walls. So Paul showed up bright and early on Saturday morning, ready to work! We picked up one gallon of ceiling paint (the kind that goes on pink and dries white) and taped off the edges. In less than three hours, Paul had painted the ceiling in my living room and kitchen. Now that it’s dry, I see that he was right. It looks bright and fresh and makes a big difference. Thanks, Paul! You’re a brother-in-law extraordinaire!

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. It seems I have to keep reminding myself to just breathe these days. If you’ve been following along with my blog posts, you know that I’m mid-renovation right now. I’m working with the talented and infinitely understanding designer Lisa Canning and we’re making great progress. This process is turning out to be a lot of work (Lisa is doing most of the hard legwork!), a lot of decisions and a lot of fun. But there are moments when I see my home turned upside down and my heart stops. But I just have to remind myself: It’s only temporary. Everything will be returned to its rightful state soon enough.

So here’s how things are looking right now:

This is my kitchen minus its cabinet doors. We’ve sent the door and drawer faces away to be lacquered white. I think it’ll look great and am excited to see the final results but seeing my kitchen like this makes me unhappy. And reminds me I need to get organized.

This is the living room. We’ve removed the baseboards in preparation for laying new floors and installing new baseboards. The flooring is from Tarkett and I’ve chosen a bamboo wood in Solid Onyx, a deep, dark brown. I think the new floors will make an enormous difference and can’t wait to have them installed. Installation is scheduled for Monday by the folks at End of the Roll, Milton.

And finally, here’s my bedroom. My bedroom isn’t even getting a makeover but it’s become the storage space for all of my old furniture from the living room because there’s nowhere else to put it at the moment. So basically, everything I own has been crammed into my bedroom.

So, as you can see, my home is turned completely upside down. I can’t wait to reach the end of this process!

I was away on vacation for the past two weeks but I’m back now and I’m really excited to return my focus to my condo makeover. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m working with Lisa Canning, a wonderful designer who is demonstrating so much patience as I hem and haw over furniture choices, colours, patterns, fabrics. Right now, we’re trying to find the perfect chair. Below are a few we’re considering. Even though you (readers) have only seen glimpses of my space in previous posts, I’d still like to know which one you like best! Leave a comment below and share your opinion!

Today: Painting! It was a long day. My dear friend Jen and I painted from 10am til 9:30pm (with a handful of breaks thrown in). The colour I used is called Satin, part of the Style at Home paint collection from Home Hardware. Covering my dark green walls required one coat of primer and three coats of paint but wow - what a transformation! My condo instantly felt brighter and, more importantly, larger. It’s amazing what an impact paint can have.

Painting with white can be a bit tricky. Because the paint colour (when wet) was so similar to the primer, it was sometimes difficult to see where we’d stopped painting. So you have to keep a close eye on what you’re doing. Good lighting is key, too. As the sun started to set, it became more and more difficult to see what was painted and what was not. But overall, the most important thing was to have patience, a keen eye for detail and a good friend to help, who shows up bearing Timbits.

I’m thrilled with the change and can’t wait for the rest of the space to start coming together!

And the fun (work??) begins! I primed the walls of my condo tonight. My brother-in-law was kind enough to help. We started by removing all the baseboards. I’ll be putting in new hardwood floors to replace the laminate that’s there and replacing the baseboards, so removing them made the priming much easier since I didn’t need to worry about the edges. It took about three hours and surprisingly, I only needed one gallon of primer to cover the dark green walls in my living room and kitchen.  Thank goodness primer is water soluble and so easy to wash off. I was covered in it by the time I was done. Tomorrow: Painting! I’ll let you know which colour I’ve chosen.

As I mentioned a few months back, I’m finally ready to makeover my condo. And with the help of Toronto-based interior designer Lisa Canning, I’m finally beginning to make some progress! I’m going to blog about the whole process and today’s a good day to start. Lisa showed up at the Style at Home offices this afternoon with some fabulous fabrics tucked under her arm, textured tiles for the kitchen backsplash and best of all, her sketch of her design vision. And that, more than anything else, got me really excited. I’m working with a modest budget, but Lisa’s design savvy means she knows where to go to get gorgeous things at great prices. Stay tuned and I’ll keep you updated on our progress. In the meantime, check out the ‘before’ photo of my condo and Lisa’s sketch.

My condo: It’s a bit dark and it’s time to update it and turn it into a truly stylish space!

Lisa’s sketch: Lots of white and pops of dramatic colour, like the cobalt blue cushions and accessories, go a long way towards updating the space and making it more modern.